By Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.N., C.N.S., C.B.T.
Myth: You can’t slow down aging.
Fact: You can definitely stay healthier longer and enjoy a better quality of life.
My Recommendation: It’s not rocket science. Make smart lifestyle choices.
As a cardiologist and anti–aging specialist, I have searched far and wide for a “Fountain of Youth.” Does it exist? Let’s just say, as I continue to look into several new nutritional breakthroughs, that there’s so much you can do through your actions and attitudes to effectively apply the aging brakes, slow down the clock and even potentially extend your healthy time on Earth.
I was born in 1946 and have joined the ranks of senior citizens. I’ve had my share of bumps and pain along the way, even a hip replacement. But I consider myself pretty darn healthy for my age. I feel great and intend to stay that way for as long as I can. If I live another twenty years or reach a hundred isn’t the important thing. What’s important is the quality of life I experience for the time that the Creator has allotted me..
I don’t know how someone is supposed to feel at my age, but I’ve sat across from a lot of patients sixty years and younger who looked and felt much older than their age. I made up my mind that I definitely didn’t want to end up looking and feeling like them. One of my missions in medical practice has been to get my patients to feel more like I do − full of energy, loving life, and constantly looking for new ways to be healthier. You do have to work at it, but for me, it’s always been fun work.
As a physician for forty-plus years, I have learned a lot about healthy and graceful aging. The ingredients for it are really basic. Years ago I was deeply impressed by the research of a Russian gerontologist who studied longevity. He examined twenty thousand healthy people aged eighty and above, and reported in the National Geographic the key ingredients he discovered most of them had in common:
- They worked outside, weather permitting, getting physical activity, sunlight, and fresh air.
- They ate a simple diet of mostly grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables.
- They enjoyed good relationships, rich in love, intimacy, and support. Physical connectedness to a partner meant anything from intercourse to cuddling and kissing, and it was the holding and the intimacy that mattered the most to them.
- They had optimistic outlooks on life.
The Sinatra Solution for Healthy Aging
When I lecture on healthy aging to lay audiences, I go somewhat beyond the Russian perspective and throw my cardiologist’s “spin” on it with some lessons I’ve learned along the way as a doctor as well as from my personal life. I strongly believe that 95 percent of all diseases are the result of vital nutrient depletion and emotional/environmental toxicity. Keeping that in mind, I emphasize five things:
1. A nutritious, anti-inflammatory, non-insulin provoking diet.
2. Adequate physical activity, sunlight, and fresh air.
3. Detoxification—keeping the body as toxin-free as possible.
4. Targeted supplements to enhance adenosine triphosphate production (ATP), the body’s basic energy source generated by all the cells, a.k.a. the “awesome foursome” of metabolic cardiology.
5. Positive communications between the mind and the body, and minimizing stress.
These ingredients make up my own recipe for healthy aging and hopefully will keep me out of a nursing home. You can find articles and videos about these subjects elsewhere on the website by clicking on the links for each ingredient.
As I said earlier, we have yet to discover the “Fountain of Youth.” But we all have the potential to create our own Fountain of Youth by our actions and attitudes.
Q & A
Q. Which foods do you recommend for healthy aging?
A. That’s easy…just visit my Top Healing Foods page, where I discuss my 15 favorites.
Click here for more great articles about healthy eating.
You also might be interested in watching:
- My Top Healing Spices video
- My Healthy Cooking Videos – In this 10-video series, my son, Step, and I show you how easy and quick healthy cooking can be! We make our favorite meals, and tell you the health benefits associated with them. You can also download lots of great recipes to try, which I hope become your favorites too!
- My Breakfast Videos
I’ve also got lots of great recipes posted at Drsinatra.com.
If you’re hungry for more detailed information about how to prevent and reverse today’s most common health conditions with delicious foods and meals, check out my books, The Healing Kitchen and The Great Cholesterol Myth Cookbook.
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